( imps and gorillas and maybe other prim...)Ancient Ancestors Might Have Had a Clue to HIV,Health

imps and gorillas, and maybe other primates, but it's not present at all in the genome of humans.

In the case of Humans, the gene's ability to block infection against PtERV1 does not seem to extend to another dangerous retrovirus, HIV.

On the other hand, the TRIM5alpha found in chimps and gorillas appears to be very effective in denying HIV access to cells. It probably wasn't much good against PtERV1, however.

Retroviruses can insert themselves into their hosts' DNA, sometimes leaving behind their genes as evidence of the infection. Experts estimate that 8% of human DNA is made up of defunct viral genes. The researchers were able to partly reconstruct the virus, though it has been extinct for 3 million to 4 million years. They found that the human version of the TRIM5-alpha protein could bind to the virus, labeling it for the cell to destroy.

Tinkering with the protein, the scientists found that a single mutation made it better at recognizing HIV but worse at attaching to the ancient virus.

This antiviral protein appears to be able to fight one virus or the other.

Early humans evolved a defense against PtERV1, but left themselves wide open to the HIV pandemic 4m years later.


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